Instant noodles are excellent in long-term storage property because of having a very low moisture content and being in a dry state.
Also, the instant noodles can be eaten by cooking which merely involves dipping the instant noodles in boiling water and allowing to stand for a few minutes or boiling them in boiling water for about 1 to a few minutes for reconstitution, and thus, are very highly convenient food products.
In general, the instant noodles are made of cereal flour, such as wheat flour, as a main raw material. In production steps, raw noodle strings are subjected to the gelatinization of starch contained therein and then dried. For example, a method of steaming the noodle strings with saturated steam for gelatinization, followed by drying is frequently used.
As consumer tastes have been diversified in recent years, there has been a growing demand for authenticity-oriented instant noodles, such as a demand for straight noodles or a demand for flavor and texture closer to those of fresh noodles.
In this context, the “fresh noodle-like” flavor and texture are comprehensively judged from biting texture at the surface of noodle strings, firmness remaining in the cores of noodle strings when fresh noodles are cooked, the elasticity of noodles, the aroma of noodles, etc. Therefore, noodles that have good outcomes at any one of these items, but do not satisfy the other items are rarely regarded as being “fresh noodle-like”.
In the case of steaming noodle strings with saturated steam, the fresh noodle-like flavor and texture are difficult to obtain. This is because, unlike the boiling of raw noodle strings, the steaming does not allow water to enter the noodle strings for the progression of gelatinization, and also applies heat to the noodle strings in a different manner. The resulting steamed noodle strings differ in flavor and texture, such as biting texture, the elasticity of noodles, or the aroma of noodles, from the cooking of raw noodle strings.
Meanwhile, a technique of adding a texture improver is disclosed as another method for conferring flavor and texture close to those of fresh noodles using saturated steam (see PTL 1). This technique improves elasticity, palatability, and the like by adding the texture improver.